Thomas Van Tonder OCR - Race Report Krugersdorp

Thomas Van Tonder OCR - Race Report Krugersdorp

The Jeep #Warrior Race - Race Report

I was fortunate enough to take home the #Win this weekend at the 6th edition of The Jeep Warrior Race 2015. The feeling of crossing that finish line first is amazing, almost addictive...

After scouting the 15km course of 30 obstacles on Saturday, it was pretty clear to me that it was going to be a hard day in the ‪#BlackOpsElite office - Always expect nothing less.

Knowing that they would be selecting the team to go to the OCR World Championships​ in OHIO, USA, and me being the leader of the Warrior series, the glory of a win, and a new Jeep​ ‪#Renegade on the line - there was ALOT to race for.

My pre race routine is to take some time alone with my Skullcandy​ ear phones to focus and get my mind in the game.

Surrounded by the best OCR racers that SA has to offer - we lined up for the race, a powerful build up by ‪#WarriorRic and we were off.

The starting pin was much narrower this time around, which made it a good squeeze for a good position.

The first part of the race went straight uphill, with some technical rocky surfaces that changed into a couple of S bend single tracks making its way up the hill. The First obstacle was making use of ropes to get up a steep, rocky hill, but we all were so caught up in racing mode that we ran up without even looking at the ropes. :)

As the race settled into a strong pace, dividing most of the athletes, it was Claud Eksteen in front, Louis Smit in 2nd and myself following in 3rd.Claud opened up a gap in the front, leaving Louis and myself chasing with all we had. I managed to take 2nd place from Louis just before the 2nd obstacle - the daunting #vertical limit. So the chase to catch Claud was on!

As the course continued, alot of weighted obstacles like ‪#Logbuster , #WoundedSoldier and ‪#Farmerswalk‬ got in line to slow down the pace... I tried pushing hard in these obstacles in an attempt to bring down the gap between me and Claud.

Every time I could see Claud in the distance, I tried to analyze how long it will take me to get to the point where I saw him. I did this to try and work out if I was catching up at all and to see if someone was catching up on me.

Most of the race the gap between Claud and myself did not increase or decrease until we started entering the race venue, with the first water obstacle ‪#Castlelight ‪#IceBath. Getting my Salomon​s wet for the first time in the race.After the Ice bath and the ‪#Tangled obstacle over the road, I struggled a bit to get back onto a steady race pace. Remembering all the hard work I have put in, I have put my feelings aside and that helped me to get back on pace.

All the water obstacles were next, and then the last row of upper body obstacles, including the daunting ‪#BreakingPoint .You could start to hear the music and the people so I knew the end was close.As I got out of the single track and onto the last stretch, I had all the supporters from my family, friends and the whole ‪#Jeepteamsa‬ around me - Which helped ALOT with the final push on chasing down Claud.When I got to the top of ‪#Avalanche (Such a fun obstacle:D) I took a quick look to see where Claud is and then gunned at it again.

I started making up some time when we got to the last row of upper body obstacles. One by one...I was about 1min behind when Claud got to breaking point. I knew if he made it on the first attempt, it would be very hard to catch up with him again.Then just before I got to breaking point I heard Max Cluer announce on the commentating that Claud had fallen, so I knew I had a chance to take the lead.On his second attempt I was next to him, so I knew this was it. All or nothing.
My nemesis obstacle ‪#Cliffhanger‬ was incorporated into breaking point. I could also risk falling. So I told myself "you just have to believe that you can do this" and I went for it...Half way through the obstacle we were still neck on neck with no clear lead.I made it on my first attempt and only after I have finished the obstacle I saw that Claud has not made it. So i took the opportunity to win some time.Now in the lead, I pushed to the finish line. With only ‪#MudMonster and ‪#TowerOfRage‬ between me and the win. I got some mud in my one eye during mud monster, so with one eye I went up the tower of rage and then leaped to a waiting finish line. Time of 1:14:36

Claud Eksteen made it past breaking point and came in 1min14 behind me.

Greg Avierinos passed William Erasmus on Breaking point and came in to complete the last spot on podium with a 3rd place.

What an amazing weekend, very grateful to be able to do this as a sport, just to be fit and live and to live life to the fullest - I AM SO BLESSED !! Thanx again for all the support from family, friends, fellow racers, team mates and Coach Jean-Pierre Nortje​ #gotowar

Looking forward to Warrior#7 down in Cape Town at the beautiful Meerendal venue on the 11 October 2015, then #OCRWC .